This Saturday represents the latest chapter in the illustrious history of “The Game”. Michigan comes in as a 17-point underdog against an Ohio State team that will be playing for a likely BCS bowl bid with an outside shot at the Rose Bowl if Michigan State is tripped up in Happy Valley this weekend. Michigan has definitely won as an underdog in Columbus before and the beauty of this contest is that you truly never know for sure how the game will go.
When Ohio State has the ball:
After watching the Wisconsin offense mash the ball down Michigan’s throat last weekend it is hard to be anything but concerned for how the Michigan defense will fare this weekend. Michigan has multiple players who will be questionable for this contest on the defensive side of the ball including Craig Roh, Mike Martin, and Jonas Mouton as the injury bug continues to take its toll.
As if the injuries and the youth aren’t enough reason for Michigan fans to lose all hope for this weekend, Ohio State actually brings arguably the best offense in the Big Ten into this game. The vital numbers on the Buckeyes:
- 39.6 points per game
- 446.2 yards per game
- 241.1 passing yards per game
- 216.2 rushing yards per game
Terrelle Pryor, as we all know by this point, runs the show for Ohio State. Pryor has had a very up and down season mixing some great games with some truly terrible games. Last weekend against Iowa he was absolutely pedestrian for three and a half quarters before mounting a comeback drive late in the fourth to beat the Hawkeyes. Pryor has completed about 65% of his passes while throwing for over 2300 yards and 23 touchdowns. Pryor has thrown a solid ability to throw the deep ball and this should definitely be cause for concern for the young Michigan secondary.
Pryor’s running ability, as evidenced by his nearly 600 yards on the ground, is going to give the Michigan defense problems throughout the course of the game this weekend. Pryor is such a strong and fast runner that I am very worried about Michigan’s ability to bring him down once he gets moving in the open-field. Pryor has killed Michigan on boot-leg rollouts the past two seasons and, given the talent that Michigan will put on the field Saturday, I struggle to see much improvement in Michigan’s ability to stop him. Broken plays are where a guy like Pryor can really hurt you and I would not be surprised to see him get a long touchdown pass as a result of the Michigan front three’s inability to get significant pressure on him.
Dan Herron has turned in a quality year as the feature back for the Buckeyes. Herron has run for nearly 900 yards and has put together some of his best games of the year two of the past three weeks against Minnesota and Penn State. Herron was slowed down against Iowa, but judging by the success that Montee Ball and James White were able to have last weekend I would be shocked if Herron doesn’t turn in a 100 yard rushing game to close out the season. The Ohio State offensive line is a very talented group and will have no trouble handling the Wolverine’s defensive front.
Senior Dane Sanzenbacher and Junior DeVier Posey lead the Ohio State wide receiving crew. Each of these guys is a solid player in their own right and Sanzenbacher actually looks like he could potentially be an all Big-Ten selection once the season concludes. I do think both of these guys will have success going over the middle in addition to finding some holes deep down the seam.
Michigan’s defense will absolutely have to turn in their best game of the year to hold the Ohio State offense in check. It is sad to say, but the Michigan defenses best hope might be Jim Tressel. If Tressel is his typical conservative self, Michigan might just be able to hang around this one and get a few rare stops if they are able to prevent Pryor from hurting them too bad with his feet. However, if the Buckeyes get too far ahead I worry that they will go into “Wisconsin” mode and jam the ball down Michigan’s throat while taking away Pryor’s ability to make mistakes that could let Michigan back in the game.
Tomorrow I will go ahead and take a look at the Michigan offense (hopefully a more positive post!) and give my prediction for this weekends big rivalry game.
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